A Cinderella Story
by itsasuperherothing
Summary: Artemis needs money. Fast. So when she sees the small, printed out sign saying 'BABYSITTER NEEDED' at school on the big cork bulletin board, she didn't think twice before scribbling down the number underneath it. And thus the prince meets the princess in his magnificent castle with his not-so-ugly five brother and sisters. Traught
1. Method of Madness

Hey guys! I'm Gadget!

I put a lot of spaces in my writing because it makes it easier to read.

Don't you think?

Anyway, this is my first fanfic that I'm posting! I have about 50 already written in some random notebooks, lol. I really like fan pairings. My fav are Traught (Robin/Dick & Artemis) and Wonderbeetle (Cassie & Jaime). Of course, I like canons like Spitfire and Supermartian , but I really really love fanpairings. A lot.

Moving on~ This one is Traught! I decided to kind of make it like half an AU. This takes place in SEASON ONE, before Rocket and Zatanna. I prefer to pretend they got onto the Justice League from the get-go. But here's the catch;

Dick doesn't know Artemis is Artemis, and Artemis doesn't know Dick is Robin.

What if it wasn't as obvious for the boy wonder to read her like a book? And what if the team's baby bird was just as easy to conceal?

Dick is also going to be _very_ famous in this story, as he was once the youngest member to a world famous circus as well as the first ward Bruce Wayne took in.

So in this story, Dick is 16, and Artemis is 17 and a half, but Dick shall be in some of her classes due to his ability to skip grades. I've finally decided almost the whole Bat-clan will be in this one, meaning Dick, Jason, Tim, Dami, Steph, Cass, Bruce, and Alfred. I'm still not sure about adding Barbara. What do you think? I kind of want a friend, like female friend, of Artemis's for her to talk to, and I'm debating between Babs and Bette. Anyway, read, rate, review, and enjoy!

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoO**_

* * *

Artemis needs money. _Fast._

Not only are there bills to pay, but her mom needs medicine and they are a week from eviction. So when she sees the small, printed out sign saying 'BABYSITTER NEEDED' at school on the big cork bulletin board, she didn't think twice before scribbling down the number underneath it.

* * *

"Hello?" a male voice answers tiredly. The age is anonymous, maybe near hers. There's _a lot _of screaming going on in the background.

"Hi, my name is Artemis." she says, trying to sound somewhat professional. "You put up up a babysitting ad?"

"Yes! Are you interested?" he asks, perking up immediately.

"I am. What are the work days?"

He hesitates for a moment.

"Monday through Friday, 3 to 6."

Artemis sighs in relief. School ends at 2:30, and she can easily blow by her homework while babysitting. Usually if team stuff comes up, it's no earlier than 7 or 8, and ends at 9 or 10. That leaves about an hour or so for herself before she gets to bed only on super-heroine days, and a good few hours when she can just be Artemis Crock, which isn't too shabby at all.

"Great. When do I start?" she says in a joking matter. It seems like he's relieved too, because he laughs off the slight nervous tone that he had before.

"ASAP. My name is Dick, by the way. You're going to be taking care of five _very_ rambunctious kids, if you take the job. Think you're up to it? Oh, and how old are you?" he asks.

Artemis grins to herself. She might not have taken care of many kids, but she certainly knows how to. "I think I can take it. I'm seventeen, by the way." She decides he's probably pretty close to her age.

"Can you drive? Do you have all of your vaccines? Do you smoke? Have you been arrested?" he quizzes her quickly.

"Umm… Yes, yes, no and no." She responds, then adds, "Did a pass?"

He chuckles lightly from the other end of the phone. "Yes. Uh... I think that's it. Do you by any chance go to Gotham Academy?"

"I do." Artemis starts to wonder exactly _who_ he is.

"Awesome. So do I. We'll meet up tomorrow, after school how about? Outside of the school doors?" he offers.

"Sure. See you then." Artemis says, and the two hang up. She briefly wonders what he looks like. There are a ton of kids in Gotham Academy she doesn't know, especially having only started going there less than a month ago. He could be a freshman or a senior, he could be of average garden variety or easy on the eyes. At the moment, though, she's a little too overjoyed to care.

Artemis looks at her small desktop clock. 3:00. To think, in two days, she might be working for money; _real_ money. Not the stupid minimum wage jobs she now hates like McDonald's and Starbucks; a babysitting salary. A euphoric feeling rises in her; this job couldn't be more perfect.

* * *

Artemis walks into Mount Justice, shivering off the tingly feeling the Zeta tubes give her. Nobody's in the room but Robin, who happens to be paddleballing upside-down on the couch watching TV.

"You're a weird kid, boy wonder." Artemis mumbles, going to the fridge and grabbing a water bottle.

"Hello to you too, Artemis!" Robin says, mock cheerily.

Artemis rolls her eyes.

"What's got you so happy today?" Robin asks, seriously.

Artemis narrows her eyes. Normally, she would ask why in the world he came to that conclusion. She wasn't acting happy in the least bit. At least she thought she wasn't. But now being of the team for a while, she's starting to pick up everyone's annoying little knacks. Then again, she probably would ignored him completely if she wasn't in a good mood.

She shrugs. "Good grade on a test."

Robin nods, though he knows she's lying. He really doesn't care much. He does it too. And there's a silent moment of understanding between the two.

Artemis pauses. "So, what's up with you?"

"Paddleballing." Robin says, grinning. "So far I'm at 2,476."

"How long have you been doing that?" Artemis asked, a hint of disbelief in her voice.

"...I lost track of the time."

"Smooth. It's… 7:19."

Robin jumped up and flung the paddleball into the corner of the room.

"Crap. See ya Artie!" He said, running into the Zeta tube.

* * *

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoO**_

That chapter was really, really short, so I'll update really, really, soon. I'm not one of those people who live on reviews. I'll continue this anyway! Even if you guys think that was terrible, tell me! _But_, tell me why it was terrible. Thanks!


	2. Golden Fame

I feel so accomplished. 5 favs, 11 follows, and 4 reviews! AWESOME! I'm soooo sorry I didn't update sooner; this chap was hard to right, because there are a lot of fillers. I love Traught, but sometimes I don't think I nail the characters right. Plus, life's just soo busy. It won't take me this long to update usually, though. Now for a quick mailbag:

_AirBorne3 : _The five kids are Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown, and Cassandra Cain. Sorry, didn't make that clear.

_ariaT27: _Thanks! I'm kind of excited to see where it goes too. I've been writing and rewriting, changing things up, deleting things, the works, on the spot, so I guess we'll see how this goes. It is preeetty weird Dick doesn't know about Artemis, but that'll come into play later.

_randomkitty101: _I totally will be your best friend, thanks so much! I'm going to try to update ASAP each chapter.

_nightwing-girl_: Thanks! I'll try to update as much as possible.

Anyways~ once this story gets on a good start, I'm going to shoot for some sort of a one-shot. Or a collection of one-shot drabble type things. This story will be long, but I'm going to try to make the chapters big. I don't know why, but stories with a lot chapters slightly annoy me, especially when reading on an iPhone. Oh, yeah! And I forgot to tell you guys why this story is rated T. There are NO sexual references (*shiver*) or anything like that. It might have light cursing, nothing like the f-bomb. There will definitely be some violence later on though. Unfortunately, there is no Robin in this chapter, but you'll see why. Oh, and btw, I kind of think of Gotham being in NY. Idk. So in this story, Gotham is in New York. Enjoy!

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**_

* * *

The day goes by quickly, quicker than usual. Artemis finds herself tapping her foot a lot though, and watching the clock tick gradually on.

_Tick_

_Tock_

_Tick_

_Tock_

RRIIIIINNNGGG!

She's the first to get up out of her seat. Going to her locker and packing up is a flash (as a certain annoying speedster would say), and soon she's outside in front of the vast school. She's still not used to the fact she's going to school with kids who practically bathe in liquid gold they have so much money. She won't admit it; but she kind of likes the feeling of being ambitious. The huge gyms, elite lunches, and extraordinarily intelligent teachers; it's starting to get to her.

Artemis looks around.

There are _a ton_ of guys, literally, everywhere. Dick could be _anyone_. And she doesn't even know the kid's last name. The only person she can really think of is Dick Grayson, but it's more likely for _Bruce Wayne_ to be Batman than his son to be her employer. So with an x and an eye roll, _that_ theory is done for.

At least for a moment.

So, of course, Dick _Grayson _is walking towards her, and she wonders if Bruce Wayne _is _Batman.

There's quite a lot of people following him. From more or less 20 feet away, she can see him trying somewhat to dismiss them. It's not working. He eventually does, though, and comes up to Artemis, some people still lingering around. He sighs and dusts a bit of dirt off of his shirt.

"You must be Artemis….. Crock, right? You're in my AP Language Arts." he says cheerily, looking up at her. His eyes are much brighter and bluer than visual media might suggest.

"Um…. And you're Dick. Grayson." she says lamely.

He grins. "Last time I checked."

Artemis smiles a bit, too, besides herself. Here she is, talking to a world-famous kid who goes to her school and making a fool of herself. She always considered herself a calmer type person. Definitely not some screaming fangirl. And now she's blushing and tripping over her words; it's a little ironic, in a way. She doesn't burst out laughing at herself or anything of the sort; that would make her look even worse. She does smile though, just a little wisp of her lips' upturned corners. He seems pretty friendly. Not very much like the celebrity type. Still, it doesn't change the fact that he _is _a celebrity.

"Nice to meet you." she says blushingly, offering her hand. Dick returns the greeting and shakes her hand.

"So, business. I could drive you over to my house every day. Or rather, Alfred will. I usually have to do something or another to do after school anyways, so we could get there right on time. Or, since you still have half an hour after school every day before you have to start, you could drive over at three. It's up to you." He says, thinking.

Artemis wonders who Alfred is. Probably a chauffeur or something. Her car is old, beaten, and completely unusable as it hasn't worked for years, though, so she's thankful he offered.

"It would probably be easier for me to come with you." She says. She can't quite bring herself to look straight into his eyes. They're too big and bright and kind.

"Do you want to come now?" Dick asks. "I could introduce everyone to you, go over the basics and all. Everyone except for Bruce, that is. He's usually working around this time."

The thought of being _inside _the _Wayne Manor_ makes Artemis feel fluttery and nervous. The thought of _meeting_ the _Bruce Wayne_ is even worse. He practically _owns_ half of Gotham. He's like a _living legend_. She's already messed up with Dick, and Bruce? That experience is all to scary and exciting to even dream about. It's probably best to go there now, though. Bruce isn't there, so she won't have to worry about looking like some babbling buffoon, and she wants to know exactly what she's up against.

"Uh- that's ok that he isn't there. I'll probably meet him soon. I'm fine to come now though." she says. _As much as I both do and don't want to go._ she adds in her mind.

He grins again. Artemis wishes he would stop doing that. "Follow me."

Dick leads her through the school grounds.

"How much do you want per hour?" Dick asks.

Artemis grimaces. She's been pondering over what to ask. Last night, she looked up that average babysitters get about 15 dollars per hour for one kid. She's taking care of five, and each added on kid should be about three dollars or so. But this is her first _real_ babysitting job, and she should probably start low anyways, then gradually go up.

"I was hoping…. maybe, ten?" she asks hopefully.

"Got it. So I'll pay you 150 per night."

Artemis widens her eyes and practically chokes on air.

"150?! Where'd you pull that number from?" she asks.

Dick laughs. "You don't know what you're up against yet. You said ten, so I'll give you ten dollars per kid per hour. 150."

"...Wow. Um, that's really nice- generous of you." she thanks him.

They walk up to a limousine parked in the pick up area. Somehow Artemis isn't surprised that they're going to his house in a limo.

"Do you go home in a _limo_ every day?" she asks.

He smiles mischievously. _There it is again._ "Nope. But we have a special guest today, so I figured I'd do my best to impress."

Artemis tries not to blush. Luckily, he didn't really comment anything particular to her, like how she looks, otherwise she would _really_ have burned up. Or she probably would have given him a look or hit him depending how bad it was; she doesn't tolerate guys hitting on her in the first five minutes they've met. Or at all, really. Maybe that's why she finds Baywatch so annoying. He opens the door for her and ushers her in.

"Ladies first." He says, in a mock English accent.

"That's fine thanks, you go." she says, slightly pink-cheeked.

"No, I insist."

Part of her believes he's trying to make her squirm, but the other part is too… convinced to listen.

"Hey Alfred." Dick says and he climbs in after her. She realizes he's talking to the elderly man at the wheel.

"Good afternoon, Master Dick. This is Artemis, I presume?" Alfred says in a _real_ English accent. Artemis suppressed a giggle. Another bit of irony in her day.

Artemis does sort of a tingle of fingers wave. "Yes, nice to meet you."

The ride there is short and awkward. Dick looks content and casual, sitting across from her. Artemis, on the other hand, feels… misplaced. She watches out of the window as they drove through the richer part of Gotham. She had never really been to these parts. It was pretty, with nice buildings and mostly clean sidewalks. It made her feel like she didn't belong.

Eventually they're on the estate, and it's _HUGE_. The ground in front of the mansion were _at least_ three or four times bigger than the vast school lawns. The gates towered over them as they opened slowly and closed again behind them. There were several well tended to gardens, and the mansion itself must have been bigger than the entire 20 floor apartment she lived in.

A little o forms on Artemis's mouth as she takes it all in. Alfred opens the limo door and Dick hops out. Artemis goes more slowly, taking a few seconds to look around at the amazing dwelling. She follows the two into the house. The mansion is even more lavish on the inside, with a huge crystal chandelier hanging in the living room and large banisters to line the mahogany staircase.

"I hope your stay at Wayne Manor is pleasurable, and do call if you require anything." Alfred says, ever-so-slightly bowing and leaving.

Dick beckons her to follow him.

"They should still be in the kitchen.." he mutters to himself.

For the first time Artemis wonders who's kids she's taking care of. She doubts it's Bruce, because it probably would have been big if he suddenly had _five more kids_. They could be Alfred's nieces or nephews, or maybe grandchildren. She certainly hopes they're not Dick's. That would be… awkward.

They go inside the kitchen. Even the kitchen alone is bigger than her apartment, let alone the dining room. Four kids, one baby, and one teen; a red-haired girl she's seen at school, Barbara Gordon she thinks; sit around the counter in the middle of the room on stools. The baby is the grumpiest baby she has ever seen, with jet black hair and glaring blue eyes. The second and third boys have the same physical features as the baby, but they're older. One is older and the other has a bit longer hair. The first girl is about the same age as the second, with short, straight black hair, and blue eyes, just like what she assumes to be her brothers. The second girl has wavy shoulder length blonde hair and blue, the first to break the pattern. She's kind of surprised to see Barbara there, but then again, she doesn't know exactly _who_ she is. She also breaks the pattern, with flaming red hair and blue eyes.

"Hi," Barbara says warmly. "You're Artemis, right?"

Artemis nods. _Apparently everyone knows about me._

"I'm Barbara, Dick's sister."

_That's weird. I thought Dick was an only child. Not to mention they have different last names… -_ It suddenly comes to Artemis that they aren't really siblings, biologically. Just hypothetically.

Artemis greets Barbara back with the same warmth.

"Ok, so now you know Barbara." Dick says. "She's usually going to leave by the time you come. This is Jason, Tim, Steph, and Cass." he says, pointing to each one as he says their name. "The baby's name is Damian." Seeing the slightly confused expression on her face, he adds, "Don't worry, he's always like that.

All of them have different reactions. Jason, the oldest one, grunts, and she gets the feeling he really does not care about this whole 'new babysitter' thing. Tim, the second youngest boy, and Cass, the black haired girl, shyly wave. Steph, the blonde haired girl, beams, and Damian, the baby, just kind of pouts. As grumpy looking as he may be though, he's still adorable.

"Hi guys." she says, waving. "I'm Artemis."

Dick grabs a jar of cookies before pulling up two chairs up, one for himself and one for Artemis.

"So… Jason is a big troublemaker. Watch out for Jason." Dick says, earning a glare from him. "Steph is usuTim is usually good, except when Damian's involved. I still haven't figured out exactly why they can't get along…."

"Can you sign?" Barbara asks suddenly. Artemis isn't confused as would most people be. She's familiar with the phrase. A while back, when her mom first had her accident, she learn some since the accident muddled her speech.

"A little bit…" she says. "Why?"

"Cass is mute." Dick says. "But don't worry about it, the others'll translate for you. As for Damian; watch your fingers. He bites."

Artemis doesn't know whether to take this very seriously or as a joke. She decides to play it safe and make sure her fingers are a good distance from his mouth.

Dick eats a cookie and passes the jar to Tim. Tim takes out a cookie with his small chubby hands, and Barbara snatches it out of his hand. "You already had your snack, mister."

Tim looks up at her with big blue eyes. "But I'm still hungwy…"

Barbara glares at Dick. "Look what you've caused." she says, punching him playfully in the arm. "Why Bruce put him in charge of the kids, I don't know." she tells Artemis, rolling her eyes at him.

"Hmm, I wonder?" Dick asks sarcastically. "You don't live here, so I'm the oldest. You want Jason to do it?" Jason glares at him again. "Come on, Artemis, I'll show you around."

* * *

After a quick tour of the place, Dick drives Artemis home in one of his many expensive cars (yes, many; he had a garage full of them). Artemis blushes a bit as they approach her apartment; compared to his place, it looks like roadkill. He doesn't seem to mind at all, though. He bids her a quick farewell and she goes up into her . After checking up on her mom quickly, she decides not to go to the HQ today. In her room, she pulls out a large, dusty book and blows the dust off of it. _**How To Learn American Sign Language**_

_Yup, I have a lot to learn._

* * *

_**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo OoOoOoOoOOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**_

Five and a half pages! Pretty long chapter I think. This chapter wasn't very good, because there was a lot of fillers and descriptions. Boring for the author, yet necessary for the reader. It was kind of hard to nail Artemis when she met Dick. Dick was easy. But Artemis? I tried to make her like a bit flustered/nervous, because that's how I think of how she might be. I also decided to put Babs in the story. Now I just have to decide about Bette Kane. I think she'll be in the next chap. Next chapter update will probably be on the 19th. Oh, and by the way, if you didn't pick up on it, some of the italics are Artemis's thoughts, the last sentence of the chapter. Thank for reading, and don't forget to review!


End file.
